Noida's Nithari case that saw 16 killings: A 17-year trail

NOIDA: If you happen to cross D5 in Nithari village today that saw 16 gruesome killings, chances are you'll miss it. The bungalow that came to be known as the 'House of Horrors' after the killings of children surfaced in 2006 is nearly hidden under dense overgrowth.

Out of the 16 cases presented in the trial court, accused Koli received a death sentence in 13, with one being commuted to a life sentence. He was acquitted in three cases. Another accused Pandher was sentenced to death in two cases and received a seven-year prison term in another. On Monday, the high court acquitted Pandher in both of his cases and acquitted Koli in all 12 of his cases.

Here's a timeline of the case:

Oct 7, 2006 | First FIR filed on a local court’s orders, five months after a 22-year-old woman goes missing in Nithari

Dec 29, 2006 | In searches by police, eight skeletal remains are found from a drain next to D-5 bungalow in Nithari. House owner Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic helper Surinder Koli are arrested. More skeletons are unearthed

Jan 3, 2007 | Three senior police officers and some local cops are suspended after a 2-member panel concludes there were lapses in dealing with cases of missing children over the past two years

Jan 10, 2007 | UP govt hands over case to CBI. Its teams find more bones from the drain, but there is no clear way to know the total number of victims Chargesheets are filed in 16 cases of rape, murder, abduction, criminal conspiracy and trafficking

Mar 1, 2007 | Koli, in a recorded statement, confesses to sexual assault and murders of 6 children and a woman, apart from cannibalism

Feb 13, 2009| CBI court’s first verdict in case as Koli and Pandher are sentenced to death. The court would go on to conduct more than 2,000 hearings during the course of the 13-year trial

Dec 24, 2012 | Koli is awarded death sentence in another case

Jul 20, 2014 | President Pranab Mukherjee rejects Koli’s mercy petition against other death sentences

Jul 24, 2014 | SC dismisses review petition by Koli

Sept 8, 2014 | Counsel Indira Jaisingh, on behalf of Koli, moves SC to take up review petition again, less than four hours to go before his hanging is scheduled at a Meerut jail at 5. 30am. Bench of justices HL Dattu and Anil R Dave convenes after midnight, and at 1.40am, stays the execution for a week Koli’s lawyers drive to Meerut with stay order, hand it over to jail authorities at 3. 30am

Oct 29, 2014 | SC bench headed by then chief justice HL Dattu hears the review petition, saying there was no error in court judgments

Jan 29, 2015 | A division bench of Allahabad HC comprising chief justice DY Chandrachud (now CJI) and Justice PKS Baghel commutes Koli’s death penalty to life imprisonment. They say it would be ‘unconstitutional in view of the inordinate delay’ in deciding his mercy petition

Mar 2, 2019 | Koli gets his tenth death sentence at the trial court

2022| Trial court completes hearings in all 16 Nithari cases

Sep 10, 2023 | Allahabad high court reserves verdict on an appeal filed by Koli and Pandher against their conviction and death sentence in Nithari killings

Oct 16, 2023 | HC acquits Koli in 12 cases in which he was awarded death penalty. Pandher also acquitted in two cases in which he was sentenced to death